Four takeaways from the Rangers win against the Capitals

The New York Rangers passed one of their biggest tests of the seasons Sunday, defeating the Washington Capitals 2–1.

The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals 2–1 on Sunday afternoon. This was only the second time the rivals have played this season, with the other being a 4–2 Rangers victory in October. The Capitals lead the NHL with 85 points and, up until their back-to-back losses this weekend, were the hottest team in the NHL. The Rangers have also played extremely well of late, winning seven of their last eight games. Despite the Capitals being on the second leg of a back-to-back and not having starting goaltender Braden Holtby in net, this game was a huge test for the Rangers. Here are four takeaways from the Rangers’ win.

Henrik Lundqvist can still steal the show

The Rangers were the better team in the first period, outshooting the Capitals 19–10 as it was apparent the Caps were trying to get their legs under them. However, after their first period onslaught, the Rangers only mustered 11 shots on goal the rest of the game. Henrik Lundqvist was fantastic in the second and third period, making key saves to keep the Rangers in the game when the Capitals tilted the rink.

It hasn’t been Lundqvist’s best season, but his game has started to pick up of late. After allowing three goals on 16 shots against the Blue Jackets on the January 31st, Lundqvist has posted a .935 SV% while facing 30+ shots in all but one start. It’s an encouraging sign for Lundqvist, who went through a disastrous stretch in late December/early January.

For the Rangers to make a run, they need No.30 to be at his absolute best. On Sunday, he proved once again that he can carry this team.

The Rangers refuse to cover Alexander Ovechkin on the penalty kill

What’s the definition of insanity again? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? That’s where the Rangers are at with how they cover Alexander Ovechkin when they are on the penalty kill (in case you haven’t heard, Ovechkin is really, really good on the power play). Ovechkin once again scored a power play goal against the Rangers, though it wasn’t his usual rocket one-timer this time. Still, it’s not like Ovechkin moves around a ton; he has stood in the same spot for his entire career and, for some reason, the Rangers refuse to put a man on him and take him out of the play.

Here’s a play right before Ovechkin scored, where Dan Girardi looked like he was playing Hungry Hungry Hippos instead of taking away the passing lane:

And here’s the goal, where the Rangers once again ignore Ovi.

Most teams don’t have a player like Ovechkin on the power play, so that’s good news. But if your the Rangers, and you expect to see the Capitals at some point in April/May, you better start concocting a plan to take away this dude and just make it a 4-on-3 with everyone else.

The Rangers top-four defense struggled

The Rangers defense as a whole, as we all know by now, is not very good. On Sunday, they weren’t horrible, but they certainly were not good. Ryan McDonagh had a solid game, as he opened the scoring with a fantastic play that encapsulated all the captain’s skills: speed; skill; effort; and a nasty wrist shot:

But outside of that, it wasn’t a banner day for the Rangers top-four defense. McDonagh and his partner, Dan Girardi, had a particular tough day; The pair played 14:55 minutes of 5-on-5 play together, with a Corsi differential of -5, per Corsica Hockey. Around 11:30 of those minutes came against the Capitals top line of Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie, and the results were not great, Bob. In those minutes against the Caps’ top trio, Girardi and McDonagh allowed 18 High-danger scoring changes, per Natural Stat Trick.

The Rangers’ second-pair of Nick Holden and Marc Staal didn’t fair much better. The pair played 15:23 together, with a -4 Corsi differential, per Corsica Hockey. They did, for the most part, keep the opponents shots to the outside, as they only allowed 3 High-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick, against the Capitals second line. However, Holden, whose been great for most of the year, has struggled recently with bad turnovers in his own end, and that trend continued today.

The Kevin Klein-Brady Skjei duo, however, had a great day, as they posted a +6 Corsi differential in 12:54 minutes, per Corsica Hockey. Skjei has played fantastic over the last two weeks or so, and Klein, after having a nightmare game against the Blue Jackets, has rebounded strongly of late.

For the Rangers to go anywhere, they need to figure out their blue line. If they don’t bolster it at the deadline, it could mean another early playoff exit, especially if they end up facing the Caps at some point.

I need one more Rangers-Capitals playoff series

I know what you’re all thinking: This kid is fucking nuts for wanting a playoff series against the best team in the NHL. But here’s the thing: in my lifetime (December 1994-now), the Rangers biggest rival, to me, hasn’t been the Islanders, or the Devils or even the Penguins. It’s been the Washington Capitals. I was at the Garden with my Dad after Bruce Boudreau called out the arena and the fans, igniting the infamous “Can you hear us” chants, only to have the Rangers blow a 3–0 third period lead and lose in double overtime; I was there when Brad Richards scored with 6.6 to go to tie Game 5, and eventually win the game on Marc Staal’s clapper; I was at (and definitely not sober) the first of Henrik Lundqvist’s back-to-back shutouts with the Rangers down 3–2 in the 2013 playoffs; and I remember watching Game 7 in 2015 at my buddies house, watching the Rangers rally from 3–1 down with Derek Stepan’s Game 7 overtime goal. These are some of, if not the, greatest Rangers memories of my lifetime.

My point being this: in an age where parity runs the NHL and rivalries are so scarce, these two teams are the closest thing to a real rivalry (outside of Montreal and Boston). They’ve played five playoff series since 2009: The Capitals won the first two and the Rangers have won the last three; each team has blown a 3–1 series lead (hockey was the OG at blowing a 3–1 series lead, no big deal); they’ve played four Game 7’s; the Capitals have scored 69 goals with the Rangers scoring 63; there have been 25 one-goal games between the two, including all seven games in 2015; and the Capitals have won 17 games with the Rangers winning 16.

The NHL has sucked the life out of rivalries with their re-alignments, expansion and obsession with parity. But, the Rangers and Capitals have a chance to be the best rivalry in the modern era. And for the NHL’s sake, I hope they meet one more time this year. Who knows, it could be the last time we see Ovechkin and Lundqvist duke it out in the dance.